In certain types of vacuum cleaners, known as wet/dry vacuum cleaners, debris or material gathered by the vacuum may be wet and/or dry. In wet applications, a bag is not installed in the vacuum cleaner, but rather the material is drawn and deposited into a tank of the vacuum cleaner. The tank can be filled, and, when desired, emptied by a number of mechanisms. Such mechanisms include: (1) a drain or valve provided in an opening at a base of the tank; (2) removal of a lid and physical tilting of the tank to empty its contents; and (3) use of a pumping unit to expel the gathered liquid.
Each of these mechanisms for emptying the tank has drawbacks, however. For example, removing a lid and physically tilting a tank to empty its contents often requires a large force to tilt the full tank and an uncontrolled disposal of the contents of the tank. Using a pumping unit to expel the gathered liquid and/or debris or material requires more expensive equipment and typically more time to attach and detach the unit, for example, often resulting in a less economical option.
Simple drains at the bottom of the tank, while more economical and desirable for some applications, also include drawbacks. Such drains are typically attached to an opening near a base of the tank of the wet/dry vacuum and include a cap such that when it is desired to empty a full tank, the cap is first removed. Upon removal of the cap, however, debris or material in the full or even semi-full tank immediately routes to the opening in the base of the tank, typically causing material to rapidly spill out of the opening in an uncontrolled manner. In other words, basic drain systems of conventional wet/dry vacuums have the problem of uncontrolled material being immediately and instantaneously expelled from the tank upon removal of the cap, resulting in material being scattered about in many directions. More specifically, the material may not be directed to one area, but instead may evacuate from the tank in a rapid and messy manner, often unintentionally spilling onto areas and objects near the tank.